Exercise apparatus

ABSTRACT

The exercise apparatus is a lightweight and portable exercise device that enhances the active care and rehabilitation of patients participating in programs of therapeutic exercise as other individuals who may wish to use the device for general physical fitness and exercise. The exercise apparatus comprises at least one resistance band secured to an anchor device, and handles with attachment rings, hooks, etc. to secure the handles to the resistance band(s). The anchor device is used to secure the exercise apparatus to either a door frame or to some other immovable object. The device is versatile enough to allow the user to employ a wide range of different type handles in order to achieve the desired exercise effect. Resistance can be easily varied and will increase linearly as the muscle shortens and becomes more efficient. The exercise apparatus can be used to exercise all areas of the spine as well as every major extremity joint from shoulders, elbows, and wrists to hips, knees and ankles without the need for rotating to different machines to exercise different body parts.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is generally related to exercise equipment, andmore particularly, to an exercise apparatus which may be used forgeneral exercise and strength training, as well as the active care andrehabilitation of patients in a therapeutic setting.

BACKGROUND

Many fields of health care have embraced the concept of therapeuticexercise and activity as being beneficial to individuals suffering froma wide variety of ailments.

The fields of orthopedic medicine, occupational medicine, chiropractic,and physical therapy as well as many other, routinely recommend variousregimens of therapeutic strengthening for the benefit of the patientsthey serve. Evidence suggests that patients who participate in activecare or rehabilitation programs tend to get better results, stay betterlonger, malinger less, and get back to work sooner than those who do notparticipate in programs of active care.

The wealth of information regarding the benefits of therapeutic exercisehas become embedded-in the base of scientific literature relevant to thepractice of various health care disciplines. As a result, therapeuticexercise has become a recognized part of modern health care. Inaddition, general physical exercise, particularly in the form ofresistance or strength training has become widely regarded as abeneficial activity for the general health and well being of thepopulation in general. Proper strength training can and will increasethe not only strength, but also range, and quality of motion.

Proper programs of resistance training can help to stabilize weak orinjured joints, reduce the presence of local inflammatory exudates,prevent degenerative changes in the joints, increase bone density,improve connective tissue strength, improve posture, and promote generalphysical and mental health and well-being.

In addition, many types of athletic activity may benefit from specificprograms of strength training. Since various activities will require therecruitment and use of differing muscle groups, the development of sportspecific training programs has taken on new importance within recentyears.

Various types of exercise machines and devices are well known in theart. The present marketplace includes neck systems, back systems,shoulder machines, pulleys, weights, cams and other devices. Productsinclude Nautilus®, Cybex®, and free weights, among others. There arebarbells, dumbbells, bands, tubing, multi-neck machines, and multi-hipmachines. Many of the systems are reputable and of good quality, andwould most certainly be of benefit to the user. Unfortunately, they havecertain other qualities in common such as size, bulkiness, andlimitations on the number and variety of exercises possible. Further,they can be very expensive and complex to assemble and use. In clinicalsettings, it may be desirous to not fill up an entire clinic with bulkymachines. In the home or general fitness market, a need exists for aresistance training system that is simple to use. It is also desirousthat the equipment takes up-a minimum amount of floor space and furtherthat the device be able to exercise all of the major areas of the bodywithout having to change equipment. If the user should be exercisingwithin a clinical or professional setting, it would also be desirous forthe patients to have a safe and affordable take home device to use forfollow-up and maintenance care after the supervised rehabilitation iscomplete. It would be even further desirous if the take home device wasthe same or similar to what the patients had grown accustomed to usingin the office.

Consequently, a need exists for simple exercise equipment for generalstrength training and exercise, particularly in regards to patientsparticipating in programs of active care and rehabilitation.

SUMMARY

In response to these and other shortcomings of the prior art, thepresent exercise apparatus, a therapeutic exercise device that islightweight and portable, and that has many advantages over traditionalweight and pulley systems, is disclosed. Resistance can be variedinfinitely and like many cam systems on the market, the resistance willincrease linearly as the muscle shortens and becomes more efficient. Theexercise apparatus is lightweight, portable, and can be sent home withthe patient. It is a simple low-tech device that meets all home andin-office strength training needs. The exercise apparatus allows forhealth care professionals to rehabilitate cervical, thoracic, and lumbarareas of the spine. It allows for adjustable resistance so as toaccommodate those of all levels of ability. The device is durable enoughto withstand the demands of professional use and yet affordable enoughto produce so that patients can purchase the device for take-home use ifprescribed by their doctor. This advantage over many other devicesallows patients to rehabilitate with the exercise apparatus in thedoctors office or clinic during the early phases of care and then easilytransition to home care using the same device. With the exerciseapparatus, patients can exercise not only the entire spine but also,every major extremity joint from shoulders, elbows, and wrists to hips,knees and ankles, all in the same area of the clinic. There is no needfor patients to rotate from machine to machine to exercise differentbody parts. The exercise apparatus allows patients to perform all officestrength training using only one device. As a result, the rehabilitationdepartment is very small, minimizing investment by health careprofessionals and requires very little attention from the staff whilepatients are exercising.

A preferred embodiment of the exercise apparatus comprises fiveresistance bands secured to an anchor device and two handles with snaphook to secure the handles to the resistance bands. The anchor device isused to secure the exercise apparatus to either a door frame or to someother immovable structure. Other systems, methods, features, andadvantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to onewith skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings anddetailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems,methods, features, and advantages be included within this description,be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by theaccompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference tothe following drawings. The components in the drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the exercise apparatus in use asattached to a door frame.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the various components of the exerciseapparatus.

FIG. 3 is an alternative embodiment of the anchor device of the exerciseapparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the exercise apparatus, having been summarized above,reference will now be made in detail to the description of therepresentative assembly illustrated in the drawings. While the exerciseapparatus will be described in connection with these drawings, there isno intent to limit it to the embodiment or embodiments disclosedtherein.

FIGS. 1 through 3 illustrate the exercise apparatus 10, a therapeuticexercise device that is lightweight and portable, and that has manyadvantages over traditional weight and pulley systems.

FIG. 1 shows exercise apparatus 10 being used by a patient 12. Theembodiment shown can be attached to any door frame 14 by merely closingthe door with the exercise apparatus 10 adjusted to the desired heightcorresponding to a particular exercise to be performed. An alternateembodiment, shown in FIG. 3 and discussed below, allows the exerciseapparatus to be attached to an attachment ring in a wall or some otherimmovable structure.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the home version of the exercise apparatuscomprises a means for securing the apparatus to a vertical structure,such as an anchor device 16. The anchor device 16 is used to secure theunit to either a wall in the rehabilitation facility or to a door frame14 in the users home. The unit shown in FIG. 2 is the home unit with asewn tab 23 that can be inserted between the door and the door frame 14while the door is opened. Closing the door then secures the device inplace for use in exercising by sandwiching the tab 23 between the doorand the door frame. Further, the anchor device 16 may be moved upward ordownward to adjust the angle for the exercise.

The exercise apparatus 10 also comprises means for providing variableresistance to exercises such as a resistance band 18. Multipleresistance bands 18 may be used to provide additional resistance toexercises. The resistance band(s) 18 may be secured to the anchor device16 via a cinching mechanism 24 or any other desirable fasteningmechanism. An attachment means such as attachment ring 22 is secured toa resistance band 18 by a clamp 26 or other fastening mechanism. Eachend of the resistance bands 18 in this embodiment contains an attachmentring 22 inserted into an elastic tube and is further secured with aclamp 26. Though this embodiment of the exercise apparatus 10 useselastic tubing for the resistance bands 18, it should be understood thatone of skill in the art would recognize that any of a number of othermaterials could be used as a means for providing resistance toexercises, such as bungee cords, elastic bands, etc. It should furtherbe appreciated by one skilled in the art that the exact nature of theattachment ring or other fastening mechanism might vary if one shoulddesire to use a material other than elastic tubing to comprise theresistance bands 18.

In the embodiment shown, the resistance bands 18 are made up of fiveelastic tubes of differing thickness and resistance which range, forexample, from ultra light to extra heavy. Resistance bands 18 thatutilize a wide range of tubing thicknesses allow the doctor, therapist,trainer, or user to easily tailor the amount of resistance applied foreach exercise. This ability to easily switch from light to heavy or anycombination of resistance bands 18 is one of the novel features of theproduct. It should be understood by one of skill in the art that anynumber of resistance bands 18 could be used and any combination ofresistance bands 18 could be used to vary the resistance for exercises.

The attachment ring 22 is manufactured as one piece consisting of aneyelet 25 at one end that is large enough for a snap hook, carabiner orother type fastening device to attach. A shaft 27 extends from theeyelet 25 toward an enlarged collar 29 at the other end of theattachment ring 22. The enlarged collar 29 is substantially pointed atthe end to facilitate insertion into elastic tubing, hoses, etc. Theenlarged collar 29 is wider than the shaft 27 at the shaft 27 end of theenlarged collar 29 to facilitate making it more difficult to remove theattachment ring 22 once it has been inserted. A clamp 26 is used tosecure the attachment ring 22 after the attachment ring 22 is insertedinto, for example, an elastic tube. The clamp 26 is placed on theoutside of the elastic tube and centered between the enlarged collar 29and the eyelet 26. The attachment ring 22 is manufactured from rigidplastic, though one of skill in the art would recognize that manymaterials could be appropriate according to the desired use and strengthrequirements of the attachment ring 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the anchor device 16 secures all five of theresistance bands 18. It should also be observed that the exerciseapparatus 10 can be adjusted to various heights on the wall or doorframe 14 in order to change the angle of resistance for any of thevarious types of exercises that may be performed.

The exercise apparatus 10 further comprises a means for gripping theapparatus such as handles 20. This embodiment uses two handles 20 withone handle 20 being attached to each end of a resistance band 18. Ofcourse, multiple resistance bands 18 may be attached to each handle 20.Further, multiple handles 20 may be attached to the same or differentresistance bands 18, thus increasing the variety of exercises that maybe performed.

The apparatus further comprises a means for coupling the gripping meansto the resistance means such as a snap hook 28 secured to a handle 20and a attachment ring 22 secured to the resistance band 18. It should beappreciated that many varieties of fastening mechanism may suffice tocouple the handle 20 to the resistance bands 18.

Typically, two handles 20 will be used for exercising with the exerciseapparatus 10, with one handle 20 attached to each end of one or more ofthe resistance bands 18. It should be appreciated that the user couldalso use multiple handles 20 on each end of a resistance band 18 andfurther, that one or more handles 20 could be attached to multipleresistance bands 18. For example, one handle 20 could be attached to tworesistance bands 18 on each end of the resistance bands 18. Thus, therewould be a handle 20 on each end of and connected to the two selectedresistance bands 18.

The handles 20 are designed large enough to enable them to be used inperforming a wide array of exercises. All areas of the spine, as well asother major extremity joints, can be easily exercised using the exerciseapparatus 10 equipped with one set of handles 20. There is no need toswitch handles 20 or attachments to go from spinal exercise to extremitytraining. Alternative embodiments could include shorter more traditionalstyle handles 20, or other attachments deemed to assist the user inachieving specific exercise benefits.

FIG. 3 shows an alternate version of the exercise apparatus 10 thatincludes an anchor device 16 that is constructed from heavier dutymaterials and provides means, such as a heavy duty snap hook 30 toattach the exercise apparatus 10 to an attachment ring (not shown) onthe wall of the office or other immovable object. It should beappreciated that the height of the exercise apparatus on the wall iscompletely adjustable and limited only by the placement of attachmentrings on the wall.

In the use and operation of the present exercise apparatus 10, a usermay utilize the apparatus to exercise arm muscles as shown in FIG. 1.The user can then, if desired or prescribed, switch from usingresistance band 18A to 18C, thus increasing the difficulty of theexercise. The user could also switch to using, for example, resistancebands 18A and 18C, or any other combination of resistance bands,jointly. The resistance bands 18A-18E are color coded according toresistance level, with the varying thickness of the bands increasing forgreater resistance. From lowest resistance to highest resistance, theultralight resistance bands are yellow, the light bands are red, themedium bands are green, the heavy bands are blue, and the extra heavybands are black. Of course any color coding scheme could be used aswould be recognized by one of skill in the art.

As another example of the use and operation of the present exerciseapparatus 10, a user may utilize the apparatus to exercise the neckmuscles (not shown). The user could position a chair facing the doorframe 14 where the apparatus 10 could be secured at the users neckheight. The user could select, for example, resistance band 18B andplace both handles 20 behind the neck. The exercise would begin withslight tension and the user would extend the head and neck backward asif to look toward the ceiling. The position would be held for severalseconds before returning the head and neck back to the startingposition. The exercise would be repeated as often as desired orprescribed.

Similarly, the exercise apparatus 10 may be used to perform numerousexercises involving strengthening in each of the three major areas ofthe spine. In this regard the apparatus may be used to strengthen theneck, the middle and lower back, and the hip.

The exercise apparatus 10 may also be used to exercise the extremities.Single joint exercises may be used to exercise the major joints. Forexample, such exercises would be isolated movements of a single joint,such as the hip, through single or multiple planes of motion. The person12 could stand arm's length from a door, with the exercise apparatus 10attached above the ankle and to the door frame 14 at the same height.Bracing against the wall, the person 12 would then extend the leg awayfrom the door frame 14, keeping the knee straight in the process andthus exercising the hip joint by keeping the leg extended for somelength of time. The knee, ankle, shoulder, elbow or wrist could beexercised in similar fashion.

Further, the exercise apparatus 10 may also be used to exercise multiplejoints using multiple plane movements. Such exercises are more similarto common movements that one might make in everyday activities or whileexercising in a gym. The type of exercise that may be performed islimited only by the judgment and creativity of the user.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention are merely possible examples of implementations,merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of theinvention. Many variations and modifications may be made to theabove-described embodiment(s) of the invention without departingsubstantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected bythe following claims.

1. An exercise apparatus comprising: an anchor device; at least oneresistance band; a plurality of handles; and a fastening membercorresponding to each of said handles wherein each of said handles iscoupled to said at least one resistance band.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the anchor device contains a sewn tab.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the anchor device contains a snap hook.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one resistance band iselastic tubing.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least oneresistance band is an elastic band.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe at least one resistance band is bungee cord.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the anchor device can be adjusted up or down verticallyto vary the angle of resistance.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, andincluding a plurality of resistance bands, each having means to allowcoupling to said handles.
 9. An apparatus for exercise, comprising:means for securing the apparatus to a vertical structure; means forproviding variable resistance to exercises; means for gripping theapparatus; and means for coupling the gripping means to the resistancemeans.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising means forsecuring the, apparatus to a door frame.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9,further comprising means for securing the apparatus to a wall.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 9, further comprising means for adjusting thevertical height at which the apparatus is secured to a verticalstructure.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising means forsecuring the apparatus to a door frame.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12,further comprising means for securing the apparatus to a wall.